Key evidence allowed in money laundering case against attorney

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that recordings of telephone calls made between Brockton attorney Lawrence P. Novak, a Republican candidate for state representative, and a prisoner client can be admitted into evidence at Novak’s money laundering trial.

Novak, 57, was arrested at his home in 2005 after a three-month investigation by IRS agents into claims that he had offered to file false paperwork in court and to launder drug money for the client.

The court found that, although the recordings were made in clear violation of state and federal regulations, they could nevertheless be introduced against Novak because he did not raise a Sixth Amendment challenge to them and also because, for Fourth Amendment purposes, the client consented to a monitoring of his calls.

The court’s decision, United States v. Novak, was written by Retired Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who is assisting with a backlog of appeals cases.